Four men arrested for murder
Four men arrested for murder
JAKARTA (JP): Four men were arrested yesterday for allegedly mobbing and killing a man in the Pulomas apartment complex in East Jakarta.
City Police spokesman Lt. Col. Iman Haryatna said that the four men were caught five hours after the incident, in which a middle-aged man, Herry Mononutu, 42, was stabbed to death.
The four, currently being detained at the East Jakarta police detention, were identified as Tommy Berhitu, 34, Alexander Rulans Yaputra, 27, Robby, 24, and Rein, 20, said Iman.
According to Iman, a group of people including the four men were getting drunk after having had a party at the apartment complex.
"The incident was provoked by a trivial thing when Herry and his friend Ricky Kendelia bumped into the group, and they stared at each other," Iman said.
However, a relative of the victim, who requested anonymity, told The Jakarta Post at the apartment that Tommy and his friends had attacked Herry, who was visiting a restaurant in the complex.
Herry, said the source, had nothing to do with the dispute between Tommy's group and Ricky, a resident.
The incident started when Ricky wanted to collect his umbrella which had earlier been borrowed by a food vendor trading in the housing complex, the source said.
But Ricky spotted the umbrella in the hands of one of the drunken men hanging around the area. This man threw the umbrella at Ricky when he asked for it. Ricky was confused and upset and asked him why he had done that.
The men then assaulted Ricky, who ran into a restaurant, where Herry Mononutu happened to be eating.
The drunkards broke a window in their effort to catch Ricky, who swiftly locked the door of the restaurant.
The men went away. Thinking that everything was all right, and that the men had disappeared, Herry finished his meal and went out to look for a taxi.
But to Ricky and Herry's surprise, the group of drunkards, armed with three swords, returned with some more friends. The group of men then viciously attacked Herry with their swords.
Herry, a resident of Jl. Pasar Pagi, Cilincing district, North Jakarta, died instantly, his body riddled with severe stab wounds.
Ricky who was beaten by the group but managed to run away is now being treated for his own stab wounds at Ongko hospital in East Jakarta.
According to Herry's brother, who asked not to be identified, Herry had gone to the flat to invite his relatives to his son's birthday. Herry is survived by a wife and two sons. (bsr/04)